Patricia Jean Plekker

Pat was born on February 13, 1941, to Louis (Louie) Knapp Lamphear and Jerrine (Jean) Mae (Pettie) Lamphear. Pat’s birth on the day before Valentine’s Day irritated her mother so her mother irritated her by having a Valentine’s Birthday Party for her every year! Pat was brought home to Stafford Avenue, NW in Grand Rapids and later moved to Northwood Street NE which was very near to the house where she spent most of her married life!

There is a newspaper article (with a picture) showing Pat, as a child, and her family going to the weekly ice-skating night with their church. Pat, also, enjoyed playing football (tackle) despite her mom’s reluctance to buy her football pads. Instead, she was enrolled in ballet! Turned out she really enjoyed ballet and to this day we still use a cape from one of her costumes for our Halloween costumes.

Pat graduated from Creston High School in 1959, and her father, Louie, owned the Crystal Flash gas station on Plainfield, which was across the street. On her walk home from school every day Pat would stop at the gas station for a pop. Her family had the first television on their street, which was quite the novelty. Her friends would gather at her house to watch, and her parents would make them all popcorn!

Pat met the love of her life, Ronald William Plekker, while he worked at the roller-skating rink, and they married on May 6, 1960. (Her granddaughter, Whitney, will be married on May 6, 2023 – she was thrilled they were going to share their wedding anniversary). Ron and Pat started a family and moved to Galahad Street NE in 1967 where they lived for 55 years. They were faithful members of Arcadia Christian Reformed Church and then Blythefield Christian Reformed Church when the two churches merged. Ron and Pat were married 47 years when he passed on September 14, 2007.

Pat was a dedicated wife and mother. She worked at the Wurzburg store wrapping gifts, in the North Kent Mall, while Ron was home in the evenings to be with the kids. She volunteered at school with her kids and then the Merchants Credit Bureau in downtown Grand Rapids. Ron worked at his Barbershop, on the opposite side of the block of her, so they were able to have lunch together every day. Pat then returned to her passion working with kids at the Kelloggsville Schools, this time in special ed. Pat and Ron volunteered running a Bingo for Little League and then due to her MS she quit working. After she was an empty nester and widower, she volunteered at Meijer Gardens which gave her the socialization she craved.

Pat and her family enjoyed snowmobiling, fishing trips, cruising, camping, and traveling in their motorhome. Pat also traveled to England with her mother. She collected unicorns and was an avid dog lover.

Pat made friends wherever she went. She had special friends she’s known since high school, in her neighborhood, at her church and at Vista Springs where she had just moved. Pat was quite the social butterfly having breakfast with Marianne every Wednesday, dinner every Wednesday and/or Friday with Dee and with anyone anytime at Bud and Stanley’s! Since her move she has made Happy Hour on Friday afternoon a must!

Grandma Pat has left her grandchildren with some great memories and traditions. On their birthday’s every year she would take them shopping and to dinner (Grandma Jean had done it also with her grandkids). On Christmas morning it was Sugar Toast (Started by Grandpa Louie) and she made sure the kids were all stocked with school and craft supplies. Easter was a new kite which a couple of the grandkids have confessed to still having!

Pat was a loving and loyal wife, mother, grandma, great-grandma and friend. She had brought only a few things with her from home to her nursing home, among them were her pictures of her grandkids, her wedding album and her 3 kids school report cards.

Pat is survived by her children: Jackie (Bob) Cunningham, John (Julie Rounds) Plekker and Randy Plekker; her grandchildren: Nick (Lisa) Cunningham, Sarah (Dan) Myers, Zack Cunningham, Whitney (Mark Doane) Cunningham, Taylor Plekker, Chris (Olivia) Plekker and Megan (Kyle) Klein-Wassink; her great-grandchildren: Caleb, June, Holden and Brooks and her brother-in-law Hank Nieboer.

Visitation for Pat will be held on Wednesday, April 26 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Blythefield Christian Reformed Church; 6350 Kuttshill Drive NE, Rockford, MI 49341 where a funeral service will immediately follow at 12:00 p.m. Burial will be at Rosedale Memorial Park.

Memorial donations in Pat’s memory may be made to National Multiple Sclerosis Association – Michigan: 29777 Telegraph Road, Ste. 1651, Southfield, MI 48034 or Meijer Gardens: 1000 East Beltline Avenue NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525.